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Tilted Earth Festival
Eric Glomski is a true renaissance man. Born in Illinois and raised in Boston, he studied ecology at Prescott College, worked in the California wine industry for several years and became synonymous with Verde Valley winemaking when he founded Page Springs Cellars in 2004. Now you can add festival producer to that list. Eric, a self-professed music fanatic, began hosting an annual harvest festival at Page Springs Cellars with live music as a key component. For the harvest festival’s 10th anniversary, in 2014, organizers decided to move the event to Cottonwood’s Riverfront Park and call it Tilted Earth Wine and Music Festival in honor of the summer solstice. The festival has since taken on a life of its own. Last year, it attracted 2,500 ticketholders over the course of two days, and Eric is expecting at least 3,000 people to fill the park on June 17 and 18, from 5 p.m. until midnight. It’s been rebranded as the Tilted Earth Festival since this year it will encompass two breweries – THAT Brewery and Four Peaks Brewing Company – in addition to 13 Arizona wineries (admission includes five winetasting tickets), nine food trucks and a wine mixology tent featuring Eric’s own wine cocktails that incorporate herbs he grows along the banks of Oak Creek.
But the centerpiece of the festival is the music, and Eric has handpicked the entirety of this year’s acts. Friday’s main stage lineup includes local favorites Decker; British blues rock and folk musician Jamie N Commons; and Brooklyn-based hard-soul band Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds. Enjoy the old-time Appalachian music of Pick and Holler on the side stage. On Saturday, the main stage will host the bluegrass sounds of Muskellunge; Tempe-based Dry River Yacht Club; the southern stylings of Muddy Magnolias and blues legend Taj Mahal. World musicians Porangui will play the side stage. Purchase VIP tickets for seats next to the stage, or bring your blankets, beach umbrellas, shade tents and folding chairs and set up camp on the grassy field in front of the stage.
Eric says the Tilted Earth acts lean toward folk music, blues, bluegrass and soul, but with his eclectic tastes, he’d like to expand the music offerings to include electronic and “grittier” music and maybe even a light show. That doesn’t mean that mega festivals like Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival are Eric’s business model, though.
“It will be interesting to see how Tilted Earth evolves,” he says. “Above all, this is a cultural festival, and we want to maintain a level of integrity. Right now, the festival feels like an island – you can look out and see all sides of it. We have to keep it at a scale that’s proper for the community.”
Tilted Earth also features four villages, each with a different theme and vibe. In the villages you’ll find lounges along with a mixture of wineries, breweries, food trucks, visual artists, massage stations and nonprofits. A silent auction will benefit two local nonprofits: Prescott Creeks and Yavapai Big Brothers Big Sisters (last year the festival raised $24,000 for the organizations). There’s also a KidsZone with a climbing wall, bounce room, eco arts and crafts, sand painting and more. The teen tent features video gaming while a game area offers cornhole, giant Jenga, horseshoes and bocce. Finally, look for an extreme sports zone where pros will showcase their BMX bike skills.
Riverfront Park’s adjacent baseball field will be open for tent and non-hookup RV camping for the weekend. There will also be shuttles between the festival and locations in Cottonwood and Sedona. All you have to do is show your Tilted Earth ticket stub, and you will ride for free.
Tilted Earth Festival
June 17-18, 5 p.m. to midnight, at Riverfront Park in Cottonwood
(N. 10th St.). Tickets range from $58 for one-day general admission ($38 for Cottonwood residents) to $400 for the deluxe VIP package. Tickets do not include parking, camping or admission into the KidsZone. Advance tickets are discounted. For details, visit www.tiltedearthfestival.com or call 928-639-3004.
The Watters
The Watters are one of those inspirational success stories: Two Sedona Red Rock High School graduates form a band, name it after the area where they grew up, make records, sell records, fall in love, get married and tour the U.S. But as it turns out, that was just chapter one. In January 2015, the band performed its last show as The Oak Creek Band at the Spirit Room in Jerome. A month later, singers, songwriters, founders and guitarists Daniel and Jenna Watters moved from Nashville to Austin, Texas, while the band’s bass player, Steve Rogers, put down roots in California. It was the end of an era, and there were some tears shed at the show. Once settled in Austin, and after months of agonizing, Daniel and Jenna decided to rename the band The Watters; their first full-length album as The Watters, Great Unknown, will be released this summer. The 10-track album was recorded at Cacophony Recorders in Austin in late 2015 and early 2016. Sedona audiences will get a chance to purchase the album and hear it performed live (before it’s even officially released) on June 7, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., outdoors at Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village. It’s a free show sponsored by Tlaquepaque. Food and drink will be available for purchase.
The Watters will also perform at the Flagstaff Hullabaloo on June 5, 1:15-2:15 p.m., and in Phoenix on June 8. They will be touring with the bass player, drummer and pianist who play on the new album along with some special guests. From the get-go, it’s been difficult to identify Daniel and Jenna’s genre – they’ve been compared to Fleetwood Mac and Tedeschi Trucks Band – but Daniel says the band has come into its own with Great Unknown.
“Ever since we began, we’ve been trying to find our sound,” says Daniel. “In the past, we used the studio to shape our sound, while this time we used the studio to capture it. This record is our most concise and complete work. It’s a culmination of the sound we’ve been searching for all these years – not quite as folky but keeping with our Americana roots. We define ourselves as an Americana-soul-rock band.”
Jenna says she’s very proud of Great Unknown. “This recording process felt very natural – I’d walk away feeling like I nailed it,” she says. “Maybe it was the producer or the comfortable atmosphere or the insanely good musicians, but I’m really excited about this new direction, and I think our Sedona fans will be, too.”
Daniel and Jenna were both born and raised in Sedona. They graduated from Sedona Red Rock High School in 2005 (they performed Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water together during the graduation ceremony) and then went their separate ways. They continued to meet up to write music whenever they were back in Sedona. They formed The Oak Creek Band and moved to Denver in 2009 then headed for Nashville in 2013. (The Watters will celebrate their five-year wedding anniversary this September.) Daniel and Jenna have recorded seven albums together – The Oak Creek Band’s self-titled first CD sold out its first pressing. Most of the songs on Great Unknown were written in Sedona and Nashville, and Jenna says they already have enough material for another album. After The Watters release Great Unknown this summer, they will go on tour in the fall and then head back into the studio. “We gotta keep the ball rolling,” says Jenna.
MORE SEDONA MUSIC: Born to rock, bluegrass, dance fever, Sedona events
